Safety breech-block lock for guns.



s. JACOBS.

SAFETY BREECH BLOCK LOOK FOR GUNS.

r i v APILIOATION FILED JULY 28, 1910. 1,026,590, Patented May 14, 1912.

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S. JACOBS. SAFETY BREEUH BLOGK LOCK FOR GUNS.

APPLICATION PILEYDVJULY 26, 1910.

Patented May 14, 1912.

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SIMON JACOBS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SAFETY BREECH-BLOCK LOOK FOR GUNS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 26, 1910. Serial No. 573,987.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, SIMON J ACOBS, citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Breech- Block Locks for Guns, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to ordnance and particularly to breech blocks.

The primary object of the invention is to prevent the accidental and inadvertent opening of the breech block of a gun before the gun. is discharged, and while there is a hang fire or some other like danger.

A. further object is to provide a breech block lock which normally locks the breech block from an initial rotative movement necessary before the breech block can be opened and removed from the breech of the gun, but which is withdrawn from looking engagement with the breech block upon the recoil of the gun and remains so withdrawn until after the breech block has been rotated to open it, the lock being returned to its operative and locking position when the breech block has again been returned to its normal position closing the powder chamber.

To this end the mechanism devised by me includes broadly speaking, a bolt mounted upon the rear end of the gun and a stop mounted upon the breech block, the bolt normally occupying a position in the path of movement of the stop and thereby preventing the initial rotative movement of the breech block, a mechanism being provided whereby upon a recoil of the gun thisbolt is Withdrawn from the path of movement of the stop, thus not only acting as a signal showing the gun has been fired, but also permitting the initial rotative movement of the breech block. The bolt is held in its retracted position by means of a latch. As the breech block is rotated initially in order to withdraw it from the gun, it engages with this latch and the latch is released permitting the locking bolt to be shot outward into the path of movement of the stop. Upon a return rotative movement of the breech block in order to insert it in place and close the powder chamber, the locking bolt is for an instant forced back to permit the stop to pass and then is again forced into the path of movement preventing the aforesaid initial movement The invention is shown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary rear elevation of a gun showing my invention applied thereto, the breech block having been rotated to a position where it may be opened. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevation of a portion of the gun and the locking mechanism applied thereto. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation enlarged of the breech of the gun and the locking mechanism. Fig. 4: is an enlarged longitudinal section through the breech of the gun, a portion of the breech block and the casing of the locking bolt, and showing Patented May 14., 1912.

the locking bolt retracted. Fig. 5 is a frag mentary elevation of the breech of the gun showing a modification of the lock-operating mechanism. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view through a portion of the breech block and througl the locking bolt, the casing therefor and the trigger. Fig. 7 is a detail view enlarged of the stop on the breech,

block and the locking bolt.

Referring to these drawings 2 designates a portion of a piece of ordnance and 3 designates the powder chamber therefor while 4 designates the breech block which has the usual interrupted screw threads upon its circumference adapted to engage with the interrupted screw threads formed in the inner end of the gun. All these parts are of any ordinary construction or as usually found in big guns.

A designates the percussion firing mechanism, B the usual devices for operating the firing lock and C the buffer for the ammunition hoist. These parts are shown for the purpose of indicating the relation of my look to the mechanism of the gun. In this type of gun the breech block is pivotally or hingedly mounted, and in order to remove it from the breech of the gun the block has to be rotated through an arc of a circle to cause the disengagement of the screw threads, before referred to. After being rotated through this predetermined distance it may then be moved directly outward. It is inserted in a reverse manner and rotated to its original position.

In order to prevent the initial rotative movement of the breech block and the disengagement of the circumferential screw threads I provide the breech block with the outwardly projecting stop 5. This stop is attached to the breech block in any suitable manner and projects beyond the periphery of the same, as shown in Fig. 1. The projecting end of the stop 5 is rounded as at 6 on one side of the stop, the other side of the stop being fiat as at 7. The projecting end of the stop is bifurcated and carries an anti-friction roller 8. The upper face of the projecting end of the stop is formed with an upwardly projecting cam faced lug 9 for apurpose to be later described.

The rear end of the gun is provided with the lateral radially extending parallel guides 10, these having laterally projecting flanges 11 whereby the guides may be attached to the gun, the guides being connected by the transversely extending face plate 12 which is held in place by screws 13 or in any other suitable manner. Shiftably mounted between the guides 10 and beneath the face plate 12 is the locking bolt 14 which is of a length suiiicient so that it projects at its outer end beyond the breech block opening. The inner end of the bolt is rounded as at 15. This rounded end when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 being 0pposed to the rounded face 6 of the bolt 5. The outer end of the bolt is transversely slotted as at 16 and is also provided with a slot on its inner face, that is, the face toward the muzzle of the gun through which projects one arm 17 of a bell crank lever 18 which is mounted upon a bell crank stud 19 screwed into the rear end of the gun. The end of the arm 17 projects into the slotted end of the locking bolt and is provided with the transversely extending pin 20 which is accommodated within the transversely extending slot 16. Mounted in the slotted end of the bolt 14 is the spring 21 which presses against the transversely extending pin 20 and thus normally acts to hold the arm 17 at the extremity of the slot 16, the spring, however, permitting the arm 17 to move downward or toward the active end of the bolt without affecting the bolt. The other arm 22 of the bell crank lever extends outward and is connected to suitable means whereby the bell crank lever may be actuated upon a recoil of the gun. One form of said means is shown in Fig. 2 and consists of a longitudinally extending actuating rod 23 which at its rear end is pivoted as at 24 to the arm 22, and which passes through guides 25 attached to the body of the gun. These guides 25 have base flanges for the passage of attaching bolts and are formed with eyes 26 through which the rod 23 passes. The rod 23 extends any desired distance along the gun and contacts at one end with an abutment 27 which is attached to any non-recoiling portion such as the slide or cradle of the gun which is not affected in any manner by the recoil movement of the gun. As shown in the drawings this abutment has the form of an angle iron which is attached in any suitable manner as by the screw bolts 28 to the cradle or slide 29. Fast on the actuating rod 23 is the collar 30 held in place in any suitable man- .ner, and between said collar and the next adjacent guide bracket 25 to the rear of the collar is the coil spring 31 which pushes outward on the collar 30 and therefore tends to push outward upon the rod 23 and draw upon the arm 22 of the bell crank lever and draw upward on the arm 17 thereof. The spring 31 is normally under compression when the gun is in battery, for the reason that the extremity of the actuating rod 23 is held from forward movement by the abutment 27.

Mounted upon the face of the face plate 12 is a trigger 32 which is pivoted at its middle as at 33, one end of the trigger extending upward and being engaged by a compression spring 34 which is mounted upon the face plate 12 and pushes outward upon this end of the lever, urging the other end of the lever toward the face plate. The face plate is slotted as at 35 and the arm 32 of the trigger is formed with a stud 36 which is adapted to pass through the slot 35 and to engage a locking recess or seat 37 formed in the outer face of the bolt 14. Under ordinary conditions when the bolt 14 is shot, that is, projects into its locking position, the recess 37 is out of alinement with the recess 35 and the locking detent 36, but when the bolt is moved outward in the manner to be later described by the recoil of the gun, the detent 36 will engage with the recess 37 and hold the bolt in its unlocked posit-ion. The inner end of the trigger 32 when the trigger is depressed extends into the path of movement of the cam lug 9 so that in the rotation of the breech block this cam lug 9 will contact with the depressed extremity of the trigger 32, force it upward against the force of the spring 34- and thus release the bolt 14, whereupon the bolt will be shot inward across the travel of the stop 5. The operation of this portion of my invention is as follows: When the gun is loaded and is in battery, the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2, that is, the breech block is closed,the end of the lock 14 extends across the path of movement of the stop 5, the trigger 32 is out of engagement with the bolt, and the rod 23 is forced backward or rearward by contact with the abutment 27, thus placing the spring 31 under compression. When the gun is fired'the recoil forces the gun rearward, the abutment 27 of course remaining fixed. As the gun moves rearward the spring 31 forces the rod 23 constantly toward the abutment, thus drawing upon the bell crank lever 22, raising the arm 17 thereof and drawing outward on the bolt and the bolt will be latched in its retracted position. After the recoil as the gun moves back into its original position, the rod 23 will be forced rearward against the force of the spring 31 and will operate the bell crank lever 18, but this reverse movement of the bell crank lever will not operate or will not tend to break the bolt 14, nor the connections to the bell crank lever by reason of the slot 16 which permits this movement of the bell crank without affecting the bolt 14. The bolt is now in its withdrawn position and is therefore out of the path of the movement of the stop 5, and hence this stop may be rotated to the position shown in Fig. 1, which is the unlocked position of the breech block. In rotating the breech block from its primary position to the secondary position where it may be opened, the cam lug 9 will come in contact with the depressed inner end of that-rigger 32 and will force this end of the trigger outward causing the other end of the trigger to move inward against the force of the compression spring 3%. As soon as the detent 35 has released its engagement with the recess 37 the compression spring 21 in the slot 16 will cause the bolt to be shot outward. When the stop 5 has passed the bolt 14 and the breech block has been brought into proper relation with the gun the breech block is withdrawn in any suitable manner. Upon returning the breech block to its original position after loading, the breech block is inserted in the breech of the gun and is then turned reversely to its direction of rotation in the first instance, that is, in the drawings it is turned in a clockwise direction. As the rounded or curved face 6 of the stop reaches the rounded or curved face 15 of the bolt 14 it is obvious that the bolt will be forced inward against the force of'the spring 16 and will permit the stop to pass the bolt. As soon as it has passed, the spring 16 will cause the bolt to spring back into place, whereupon the parts are again locked from any rotative movement which would cause an unlocking of the breech block.

In some instances it may be desirable to do away with the rod 23, the guides 25, the spring 31 and all those parts which engage with the abutment 27 and when this elimination is desired it is only necessary to provide the arm 22 with a weight 40. This weight 40 is preferably mounted on an extension 41 of the arm 22, and of course opcrates under the recoil of the gun in precisely the same manner as the rod 23. Thus upon a recoil of the gun the inertia of the weight 40 will carry it forward, thus moving upward on the arm 17 and causing a reciprocation of the locking bolt 14. A re verse movement will take place when the gun returns to its original position. Where the gun or the gun attachments are so formed or placed that the weight 40 would not act properly, as where the device is mounted more than 45 below a vertical position, then the use of the rod 23 with the abutment 27' etc. is necessary.

I do not wish to limit myself to all the details of construction or the arrangement of the parts shown in the drawing and set forth by me as the attachment might be modified in many ways to accommodate guns of various patterns and sizes without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In breech block locking mechanism for recoil guns, a stop disposed on the rear face of the breech block, a locking member on the rear face of the breech of the gun yieldingly projected toward the axis of the breech block and into position where it will engage with the stop but shiftable radially out of such position, and means for automatically withdrawing the locking member from its locking position upon the recoil of the gun.

2. In a breech block locking mechanism for guns, a stop disposed on the rear face of the breech block, a locking member on the rear face of the breech of the gun normally projected into a position where it will engage with the stop on the breech block but shiftable radially out of such position, and a pivoted member freely movable toward the muzzle of the gun and operated by the recoil of the gun to automatically withdraw the locking member from its locking position upon the discharge of the gun.

3. In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a rotatable breech block, a locking member operatively engaging a stop on the breech block to prevent any opening move ment. thereof, means actuated by the recoil of the gun for withdrawing said locking member from its locking engagement, means for holding the locking member in its unlocked position while the breech block is being initially turned, means actuated by the breech block mechanism for releasing the locking member and returning it to its looking position after the breech block has been initially rotated to a position where it may be removed, and means carried by the breech block for forcing the locking member radially outward to permit the return rotation of the breech block to its initial 1 position.

4. In a breech block locking mechanism for guns, a rotatable breech block, a stop member, a radially disposed, radially shiftable bolt member, one of said members being mounted upon the rear end of the breech rear face of the breech block, means for radially projecting said bolt into position to engage said stop and prevent a rotation of the breech block, means actuated by the recoil of the gun for withdrawing said bolt member, means for holding the bolt member withdrawn to permit the rotation of the breech block to a position where it may be withdrawn, and means actuated upon a rotation of the breech block to its unlocked position for disengaging said holding means to permit the bolt member to be projected into its locking position with relation to the stop member.

5. In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a rotatable breech block, a stop mounted on the rear face of the breech block, a locking bolt on the rear face of the breech of the gun radially disposed and radially movable, said bolt being yieldingly projected into the path of movement of the stop,

and means operated by the recoil of the gun for radially shifting the bolt out of the path of movement of the stop, permitting the initial rotation of the breech block.

6. In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a rotatable breechblock, a stop on the rear face of the breech block, a radially shiftable, radially disposed locking bolt mounted on the rear face of the breech of the gun and projecting into the path of movement of the stop, a spring for projecting the bolt, means operated upon a discharge of the gun for automatically withdrawing said bolt from its locking position, automatic means for engaging the bolt and holding it in its withdrawn position to permit a rotation of the breech block, and means actuated by the rotation of the breech block engaging said holder means and automatically releasing the bolt permitting the bolt to be projected by the spring.

7. In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a stop on the breech block, a springim pelled locking bolt radially disposed and radially shiftable on the breech of the gun, the extremity of said bolt normally projecting into the path of movement of the stop, means actuated by the recoil of the gun for withdrawing said bolt out of the path of movement, a latch for holding said bolt withdrawn, and means mounted on the stop for disengaging said latch from the bolt to permit the bolt to return to its original position before the breech block has been replaced.

8. In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a rotatable breech block, a stop on the breech block, a locking member on the breech of the gun shiftable into or out of engagement with the stop, means operated by the recoil of the gun for withdrawing said locking member from its engagement with the stop to permit the rotation of the breech block, a latch for holding the locking member in its withdrawn position, a spring for forcing the locking member into its looking position, and means on the stop engaging said latch to release the bolt upon a rotation of the breech block.

9. In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a rotatable breech block, a stop mounted on the breech block and extending radially beyond the circumference thereof, said stop having a rounded end, a radially disposed spring-impelled bolt mounted on the breech of the gun, the extremity of the bolt projecting into the path of movement of said stop and said extremity having a bevel on one side, means for withdrawing said bolt from its locking position upon the firing of the gun, means for holding said bolt withdrawn to permit the breech block to be ro tated to a position wherein it may be withdrawn, and means on the stop for disengaging said holding means to permit the bolt to be shot into its locking position. i

10. In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a rotatable breech block, a stop on the breech block radially disposed and projecting out beyond the circumference of the breech block, a radially movable locking bolt on the breech of the gun projecting into the path of movement of the stop, one side of the locking bolt being beveled, the other side being straight, a spring acting to force said locking bolt inward into its locking position, means operated by the recoil of the gun for automatically withdrawing said locking bolt from its projected position, a latch for holding the locking bolt withdrawn after it has been actuated, and means formed on the stop for disengaging said latching means to permit the bolt to be impelled into its projected position.

11. In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a stop on the breech block projecting radially beyond the circumference of the breech block, oppositely disposed parallel radially extending guides mounted on the breech of the gun, a radially shiftable bolt mounted in said guides, a spring forcing said bolt into a projected position and into the path of movement of the stop, means actuated by the recoil of the gun for withdrawing said locking bolt from its projected position, a pivoted latch mounted on the guides and engaging said bolt when it is retracted to hold it in its retracted position, and a cam lug projecting from the stop and engaging said latch to release the bolt.

12, In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a rotatable breech block, a radially projecting stop on the breech block extending beyond the circumference of the breech block and having a beveled side, oppositely disposed parallel guides on the breech of the gun, a radially disposed locking bolt mounted in said guides, a spring for forcing said locking boltinward into the path of movement of said stop, means mounted on the gun for retracting said bolt upon the recoil of the gun, a latch mounted on said guides and adapted to engage the bolt after it has been initially retracted, and a cam lug projecting from the face of the stop and engaging said latch to release the bolt upon a rotative movement of the breech block past the bolt.

13. In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a rotatable breech block, a stop on the breech block projecting out beyond the circumference of the block and having a rounded end, the projecting end of the stop being bifurcated and provided with an anti: friction roller, oppositely disposed guides mounted on the breech of the gun extending radially, a radially movable locking bolt mounted in said guides, the face of said bolt being recessed, the extremity of the bolt having one side rounded and the other side parallel to the axis of the bolt, the rounded side being adapted to contact with the rounded end of the stop, a spring acting to impel the locking bolt into its projected position, a latch mounted on the guides and adapted to engage the recess in the face of the locking bolt when the locking bolt is retracted and thus hold the bolt in its retracted position, means operated by the re coil of the gun for withdrawing the locking bolt from its locking position to permit the initial rotation of the breech block, and means on the stop for disengaging the latch from its engagement with the bolt and permitting the bolt to be projected by the spring.

14. In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a rotatable breech block, a stop on the breech block, a radially shiftable locking bolt, the inner extremity of the bolt normally projecting into the path of movement of the stop, a bell crank lever mounted upon the breech of the gun, one arm of the bell crank lever being loosely connected to the outer extremity of the bolt, said loose connection permitting a limited independent movement of the arm with relation to the bolt, a latch for holding the bolt in a retracted position, means for operating the bell crank lever to withdraw the bolt upon the recoil of the gun, and means for disengaging the latch upon the initial rotation of the breech block to open the same.

15. In breech block locking mechanism for guns, a stop on the breech block, a radially shiftable blot mounted upon the breech of the gun, a spring forcing said bolt into the path of movement of the stop, a bell crank lever mounted upon the breech of the gun, one arm thereof being connected to the outer end of the bolt and having a limited movement with relation thereto, the end of the arm bearing against the outer end of the spring, means for operating said bell crank lever to withdraw the bolt upon the recoil of the gun, a latch for holding said bolt withdrawn, and means on the stop for engaging the latch to release the boltand permit the spring to project it.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SIMON JACOBS. [1 s] Witnesses:

HARRY ADAMS, B. L. CANAGA,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O. 

